Taylor observed you from head to toe with an indifferent expression on his face as you stood outside his door, your eyes puffy and red from crying, drenched from the rain. Even you didn’t know why you’re here, but when you caught your boyfriend having sex with another girl less than 30 minutes ago, the only person you felt like you could go to was Taylor.
Taylor leaned on the door frame, his eyes still roaming your body. The silence was too loud and You felt like you were under a damn microscope. Maybe he was enjoying seeing you in pain, maybe he saw it as a little victory for himself. After a long and painful silence, he finally spoke.
"What's your deal?" his voice was gravelly and cold but not entirely dismissive.
Thoughts: Jesus fuck, they're going to catch a cold. And why did they think it was a good idea to drive here during a storm. What a dumbass.
"M-My boyfriend cheated on me." Luna says, between sobs.
"Yeah, you deserve better." He paused, then gestured towards the hallway. "Come on in. We can get something to drink and talk about it..."
"Th-Thank you, Taylor." She says between sobs and enters his house.
He followed you inside, the warmth of his apartment making you shiver despite your wet clothes. As you took a seat on the couch, he disappeared into his kitchen. He could hear him rummaging through cabinets and drawers before he emerged with a bottle of vodka and two shot glasses. Without asking, he poured one for himself and then another before handing it to you.
"Here, this'll help," he said gruffly as he handed you the glass. "Cheers." He clinked his glass against yours before downing the contents in a single gulp. You could tell he was trying not to smile at your reaction when you sipped it.
After finishing the shot of vodka, Luna calms down a little even if she is still crying.
Taylor leaned back against the counter, his eyes on you as he took another swig from the bottle. He didn't know why he was being so... nice about this. Maybe it was because he knew how shitty you were feeling or maybe there was something else, some twinge of guilt or pity... Whatever it was, he figured he might as well make use of it to his advantage.
"So, tell me about him," he said in a voice that could have been interpreted as both cold and curious. "What did you see in him? How long were you with him?" He paused for a moment before adding, "And why the hell didn't you ever come to me if there was trouble?"
"I-I met him three years ago at school and w-we started dating really quickly after that... and i-i didn't know there was any problem before he cheated on me tonight." Luna tells Taylor between sobs and thinking about it makes her even more sad.
"Why'd you stay with him then?" Taylor asked coldly, still studying her face. "You knew we hated each other and everything... couldn't you see it was never gonna work out between the two of you?" He took another swig from the bottle before setting it down on the counter beside him.
"And why didn't I know about any of this? You could have come to me, you know." There was a hint of something unreadable in his tone now; maybe anger or frustration or even... regret? It was hard to tell with him. "Maybe we could have helped each other out, kept an eye on things..."
"After i catched him in bed with another girl tonight... i came here straight away. B-But why are you giving me this much support i thought you hate me?"
"Don't get the wrong idea," he snorted, shaking his head as if to clear it. "I don't exactly 'hate' you... I just..." He trailed off, unsure of how to properly explain his feelings towards you. "Look, it doesn't matter why or what any of this is about. We both know we hate each other and we always will, but that doesn't mean I can sit here and watch someone I don't like get hurt."
He paused for a moment before leaning forward on his elbows, fixing you with his intense gaze once more. "But don't think this changes anything between us," he said harshly. "I still want to beat the shit out of you in every competition we have left... and I still don't like sharing my vodka." There was a humorless smirk playing at the corner of his mouth as he said it, but there was something else underneath that smirk as well: something strange and unsettling.
"Thank you..." She says and wipes her tears, even though more just came in its place.
Taylor gave you a curt nod before he stood up and walked back over to the kitchen counter. "You're welcome," he said gruffly as he poured himself another drink. You could almost swear you saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed it down, his throat working smoothly despite how rough it sounded.
Luna lays down on the couch and unintentionally falls asleep from emotional exhaustion and the strange feeling of safety she feels inside Taylors house right now.
Taylor watched you sleep, his expression unreadable as he paced back and forth in front of the couch. The storm outside had died down some time ago, but the room still felt damp and cold. He hated seeing you like this, knowing that there was a part of him that wished... no, hoped for this to happen. But at the same time, he couldn't shake the feeling that something else was going on here; something deeper than either of them realized.
Finally, he reached a decision. Carefully, he knelt down beside you and gently brushed your hair away from your face. "Hey," he whispered roughly, his voice hoarse with emotion. "Wake up." He swallowed thickly as he waited for your eyes to open.
She opens her eyes and looks up at him. "O-Oh, i-i'm sorry, i didn't mean to go to sleep..." She says and tries to get up from the couch, but her legs doesn't seem to carry that well and they nearly give out under her.
Taylor reached forward, grasping your upper arms firmly and pulling you to him until you were pressed against his body. He wasn't entirely sure why he was doing this; maybe it was because seeing you so vulnerable had made something inside of him snap, or maybe there really was something more going on here than either of them realized. "Stay here," he muttered roughly as he lowered his face to yours, their noses barely touching.
He could feel the beat of your heart against his chest, and for a brief moment, he thought about how easy it would be to just... He banished the thought before it could take root. Instead, he focused on breathing deeply, letting some of the tension flow out of his body as he did so. "You're safe here," he said gruffly, his voice hoarse with emotion. "You don't need to go anywhere tonight."
He paused for a moment before continuing. "And you can have the rest of my vodka if you want," he added almost as an afterthought.
"Y-You said, you don't like sharing your vodka, so i will deny that offer. But still thank you and if you really allow me, i think i should stay here."
Taylor narrowed his eyes at you as he heard your reply, but instead of getting angry or defensive as usual, there was a strange look on his face that you couldn't quite read. After a long moment, he finally shrugged and leaned back against the armrest of the couch. "Fine," he muttered gruffly before taking another drink from the bottle. Then, without warning, he reached out and handed it to you. "Here. Drink up."
As you took the bottle from him, you were struck by the strangeness of the situation; usually when he gave you something, it was to taunt or mock you. But this time... it felt different somehow. Maybe that was just your imagination playing tricks on you in this strange new reality where nothing seemed quite as it should be.
"Th-Thank you, Taylor..." Luna says and shows quite much vulnerability to Taylor, as she blushes, while thanking Taylor for the drink.
"Don't mention it." Taylor shrugged, looking away as he folded his arms across his chest. "Just make sure you don't drink yourself into another mess," he muttered under his breath, half-heartedly trying to sound annoyed with you. But even that didn't seem quite genuine anymore; it was almost like something had shifted between them, and neither of them quite knew what to do about it. The air in the room thickened for a moment as they continued to look at each other, both feeling a strange mix of emotions that they couldn't quite put their finger on.
But before either of them could say or do anything else, the silence was broken by the sound of Luna672's phone ringing from across the room. Your eyes widened slightly as you recognized the song as a text tone; something that meant one thing and one thing only: your idiot ex-boyfriend had finally realized you weren't answering his calls and was trying to reach you through another means.
Without another word, Taylor stood up and crossed the room to grab Luna672's phone from where it lay on the coffee table. His expression was a cold mask of anger as he stared down at the screen, willing himself not to do anything stupid while looking at the text messages you had been sending back and forth before tonight. Then, before Luna could even move or react, Taylor held out the phone to her, his fingers curled tightly around it. "It's from him," he said flatly, barely keeping the anger out of his voice.
Luna takes the phone and blocks her ex's number, as she doesn't want to talk with that cheater, atleast not while she and Taylor finally got along.
Taylor scowled as he watched you block his number on your phone. That was one point for you tonight... but it didn't change anything else. Even though the fight between the two of you had been put on hold for now, he knew that tomorrow they would be right back at each other's throats again; their rivalry far from over yet. And deep down inside, a small part of him wondered if maybe... just maybe... there was something more going on here than either of them realized. But whatever it was, now wasn't the time to dwell on it.
"Well," he muttered gruffly as he folded his arms across his chest once again, "since you seem to be doing a little better now, I guess I'll head to bed." He didn't wait for your reply before turning and striding off down the hallway towards his room.
"G-Good night..." Luna says to Taylor who is walking away towards his room.
Taylor paused in the doorway of his bedroom, half-turning to glance back at you before he continued speaking over his shoulder. "Don't get any ideas," he said coldly, not bothering to hide the warning in his tone. "Just because we were being... nice tonight doesn't mean anything's changed between us." Then, without another word or even a backward glance, he disappeared into his room and closed the door behind him with a click.
The silence that fell between you seemed almost tangible, thick and heavy in the air as you sat there on Taylor's couch wondering what exactly had just happened between the two of you...and where it would lead from here.
As Luna realises she just said good night to person she once cobsidered her enemy, made her blush a little. She closes her eyes and falls asleep, trying not to think about her ex or Taylor, as both are bit critical toughts right now.
Taylor lay awake in his bed, staring up at the ceiling as he tried to make sense of everything that had happened tonight. He couldn't believe how... easy it had been for him to offer Luna comfort, and even more surprising was the fact that she'd accepted it without any resistance. Something about this whole situation felt wrong, off-kilter somehow; like a delicate balance had been tipped and he didn't quite know how to get things back under control again.
Maybe tomorrow would be different. Or maybe not. But for now, all he could do was lie here in the darkness, trying to ignore the strange little knot forming in the pit of his stomach as he thought about the woman who slept soundly down the hallway.